A WORLD GONE MAD
A Progressive Liberal News Podcast
Veteran Television, and Radio Broadcaster Jeff Alan Wolf offers his Observations on the issues (many issues) of the week with a fearless liberal bent. His solid delivery, and dry common sense approach sets him apart from other liberals that populate Talk and Commentary Podcasts”
Jeff Does NOT Pull Punches.
He does NOT Make comments that are “SAFE”.
He tells the Truth.
(He Tells It As He Sees It)
He Is Very OPINIONATED!
He says the things Out Loud YOU’RE
already thinking.
Jeff is Unfiltered, Unspun, A little Unhinged, but offers a lot of Common Sense.
This Podcast could make you MAD.
This Podcast could make you SMILE.
Regardless, it WILL make you THINK!
A WORLD GONE MAD
Tariffs, Floods, Billionaires. Oh My, We're So Screwed!
What do you get when Chinese trade reroutes itself in fake mustaches, Texas floods kill dozens in their sleep, and Elon Musk casually launches a political party that tanks his stock?
You get madness in America -- and this episode of A World Gone Mad.
Jeff Alan Wolf returns with a sharper, more caustic edge as he dives headfirst into the surreal headlines we're all supposed to accept as "normal." From tariff threats dressed up as diplomacy, to summer camps drowning while systems sleep, to billionaires breaking the economy and reality -- this isn't just news, it's the unraveling of a national psyche.
No detailed summaries here. No spoiler alerts for the punchlines. If you want the full picture -- you'll have to listen.
Sharp analysis.
Snark with a pulse.
And a listener question that might haunt you more than the headlines:
What moment finally breaks this country -- or have we already passed it?
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Leave a voicemail anytime:
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Or email: AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
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This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. It's another day in a world gone mad where the headlines read like satire, the leaders sound like open mic comics and reality feels like it's being scripted by a half-drunk AI with a grudge. I'm Jeff Alan Wolf, your reluctant narrator, semi-retired idealist and full-time witness to the slow-motion collapse of whatever this used to be. Thanks for being here, although honestly, screaming into your pillow might be the healthier choice. But if you're still tuned in, you're either a masochist or someone who actually wants to understand what the hell is going on beneath the noise. Let's start with China, who's now playing hide and seek with US tariffs by shipping goods to other countries, because nothing says global trade like an international show game. Nothing says global trade like an international show game. China's global tariff duck and cover now with extra loopholes. Let's play a game. It's called who's Screwing who in Global Trade Spoiler. You're not the winner.
Speaker 1:So here's what's happening. Chinese exporters you know the folks we've slapped with tariffs big enough to bankrupt a mid-sized state are now shipping their goods through Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. Because when you build a wall, the smart money goes around it. New trade data shows that while direct exports from China to the US dropped by 43%, chinese exports overall rose by nearly 5%. Why? Because they're rerouting through third-party countries, repackaging goods and pretending they're not made by China. You know, it's like putting a fake mustache on a shipping container and hoping no one notices. The US, apparently not amused, just announced a 40% tariff on re-exported goods from places like Vietnam. Because nothing says international diplomacy like torching your relationships with smaller trade partners to punish a bigger one. That's right, vietnam gets penalized, china keeps selling and we keep pretending this is strategy. Meanwhile, american businesses are panicking. Manufacturers who rely on Chinese components are either eating the cost or passing it on, which means you, dear listener, are about to pay $39.99 for a phone charger that breaks in three weeks, instead of $12.99 for the same one that broke last year. And here's the kicker. Nobody's denying it. This rerouting tactic is well-known, widely used and apparently completely legal, which is adorable, if you like your global economics sprinkled with slapstick irony. China's playing chess. We're playing Connect Four, blindfolded underwater and arguing about whether the board is woke. Imagine trying to explain this to your 10-year-old. Well, tommy, the US tried to stop buying cheap stuff from China, so now China just sends it through someone else and pretends it's a surprise gift and that's not a loophole. That's the business model. So just to recap, we're taxing the box, not the contents. It's like banning cocaine by making sure it comes in brown paper bags.
Speaker 1:And speaking of diplomacy being weaponized like a Nerf bat, let's talk trade threats and ceasefires in the same breath, because that's where we're at now. Us is to roll out trade policy changes and gaza ceasefire talks, aka let's raise tariffs and maybe end the war before lunch. Let's say you're trying to fix a broken global economy and a brutal war, so naturally you do both in the same week. Because if there's one thing we've learned from recent history, it's that nothing brings clarity like chaos on two continents. Treasury Secretary Scott Pesence said the US is sending out a batch of friendly trade letters to 12 to 5 countries telling them make a deal by early July or say hello to tariffs starting August 1st. So basically, nice little trade surplus you've got there. Shame if something happened to it. The new tariffs range from 10% to 50%, depending on how cooperative or annoying your country's been lately. These aren't just economic penalties, they're geopolitical.
Speaker 1:Yelp reviews Five stars you get a deal. One star enjoy your new export tax and a call from your panicked finance minister. And while that's happening, benjamin Netanyahu is en route to the White House to talk Gaza, because when you're managing global trade threats, what better time to also wrangle a ceasefire in a war zone? Seriously, we're one cabinet meeting away from adding extreme weather and AI rebellion to the agenda. Talks are happening in Qatar again, where Israeli and Hamas negotiators are reportedly showing signs of movement. But let's not get too excited. These ceasefire talks have more false starts than your cousin's side hustle. And even if an agreement lands, it's likely to be temporary, fragile and about as durable as a Waffle House napkin. You ever try to solve a toxic marriage and rewrite your taxes in the same afternoon. That's where US diplomacy is right now. In the same afternoon, that's where US diplomacy is right now. It's multitasking for people who enjoy failure in stereo. So to recap, we're threatening our trade partners and refereeing the Middle East, and if that doesn't scream totally under control, I don't know what does. Meanwhile, while world leaders debate tariffs and truces, entire towns are underwater, but sure let's keep pretending the infrastructure is resilient.
Speaker 1:Texas floods kill a hundred and counting, because apparently July needed a horror movie subplot. Horror movie subplot. So you're sitting in a summer camp fireflies, s'mores, a little kumbaya, and then the river rises 29 feet in under an hour and swallows your cabin whole. Welcome to Kerr County, texas, where this past weekend's floods turned the 4th of July into a climate-fueled nightmare. And, as of this afternoon, at least 100 people are dead, including 28 children, most of them from Camp Mystic, a girls' summer camp that never stood a chance. And just in case you were wondering if someone failed to sound the alarm, yes, they did fail.
Speaker 1:The National Weather Service didn't issue an urgent alert until after the floods had already begun, sometime around 4.03 am, when the Guadalupe River had already become a vertical tsunami. So much for early warning. This was more like late stage apology. Families are now demanding answers, and rightly so. People didn't just die, they were blindsided. They were tucked into bunk beds and drowned before they had a chance to scream.
Speaker 1:Now, while this is making headlines, it still feels like it's being reported with the emotional urgency of a traffic jam. Over a hundred people, and counting, died, including 28 kids at summer camp, and yet it's not being treated like the national emergency it is. We've hit the point where, unless tragedy comes with viral video or political outrage. It barely breaks the noise ceiling. Local officials are calling for federal disaster aid. Rescue teams are still pulling bodies from trees, but the question no one's asking loud enough is why is a major summer camp in a known floodplain without a direct flood evacuation system in 2025. I'll tell you why. Because we fund thoughts and prayers and defund actual infrastructure. Hey, here's an idea If your state, like Texas, can budget for stadiums and border walls, it can budget for a goddamn flood siren. So, just to recap, 28 kids died in their sleep and the system meant to protect them hit snooze. But hey, let's keep debating drag shows and library books. And in case your blood pressure dipped for a second, don't worry.
Speaker 1:Trump's got fresh tariffs and threats on deck, all gift-wrapped in that classic tone of sign this or I'll break your supply chain. Trump's tariff expansion now with 50%, more threats and zero chill. More threats and zero chill. You know what every anxious, inflation-riddled economy really needs right now More tariffs, and not just any tariffs randomly distributed and vaguely defined, but globally terrifying ones. Courtesy of Donald J Trump's the Art of the Economic Panic. Courtesy of Donald J Trump's, the Art of the Economic Panic According to his Treasury Secretary, scott Besant, who somehow always looks like he's about to whisper brace yourself.
Speaker 1:The US is preparing to send formal tariff notices to up to 15 countries and if these countries didn't negotiate by early July, boom, new tariffs go into effect August 1st, because nothing screams stability like a one-month ultimatum on global trade. Now here's the kicker. The proposed tariffs range from 10% to 50%, depending on how much Trump likes your country that given week. Allies are panicking, markets are twitching and international finance ministers are apparently holding Zoom calls with the emotional tone of a funeral for logic. This isn't so much an economic policy as it's a hostage negotiation wrapped in campaign cosplay. Trump's strategy is threaten, escalate, maybe renegotiate, but definitely tweet something unhinged in all caps between meetings.
Speaker 1:We've entered the tariff hunger games phase of foreign policy. Good luck, canada. May the odds be ever in your favor. Wall Street Not thrilled, futures dipped, the dollar staggered and businesses across manufacturing, tech and retail are now pricing in tariff anxiety like it's a new seasonal affective disorder, because when you tell 15 countries that their economies might implode in three weeks, hey, they tend to take it personally. And keep in mind this is happening while we're also threatening BRICS nations, rewriting the US climate policy and rebooting conflict negotiations in Gaza. You know, it's like someone spilled Red Bull on the Constitution and now we're just winging it.
Speaker 1:At this point, trump's trade strategy feels like a toddler playing with light switches. Let's turn off Europe, now China, now Vietnam. Oops, I flipped the circuit on domestic agriculture. So to recap, the US is about to punch 15 countries in the wallet just to see who flinches Global diplomacy brought to you by an expired coupon and a bullhorn. Let's leave American ego for a moment and head to Europe, where leaders are actually trying to stop missiles instead of tweeting about them.
Speaker 1:Zelensky and Starma rally the Coalition of the Willing, now with extra drone fuel and Black Sea drama, in a move that sounds like it came straight from a Tom Clancy reboot. Ukrainian President Zelensky and newly minted UK Prime Minister Kerstarma have teamed up to build a modern-day coalition of the willing no, not the Bush-era one that gave us a war and a migraine. This is the other kind, the one that comes with drone factories, sanctions and a vague air of European competence. The talks are happening in Rome because of course, they are. Around 30 countries are reportedly involved, like some kind of NATO spinoff with fewer strings and more espresso. The mission To reinforce Ukraine's air defenses, ramp up drone manufacturing, secure the Black Sea and send a not-so-subtle message to Russia. We're not done and we brought friends. And, yes, the US is invited, but they're not the center of gravity here.
Speaker 1:Here, this is a Europe-led push, signaling frustration with the lagging pace of American weapons packages and the mess that is our own Congress, apparently, please hold your democracy is buffering and doesn't fly when missiles are landing in your backyard. Recent Russian drone strikes have made it clear Ukraine is still under daily threat and the need for coordinated defense isn't optional. This new coalition is being developed alongside the Ramstein format, which is basically the g20 of military aid, except with fewer speeches and more exploded hardware. Zelensky, ever the wartime communicator, framed the move as a pivot toward long-term guarantees, which, as politicians speak for, we can't keep surviving on temporary favors and old ammo. Starmer, meanwhile, is using this moment to set the tone for a post-Tory foreign policy, one that looks less like Brexit nostalgia and more like grown-up leadership on the world stage. Imagine that Britain showing up sober and prepared. It's weird, but refreshing. What do you call it when 30 countries with different agendas try to align on weapons, war and diplomacy? A coalition? What do you call it, when the same 30 countries try to decide who's paying for the drones? An argument. So to recap Ukraine just joined forces with the UK's new prime minister to launch a serious boots-on-the-ground, radar-in-the-sky pushback against Russian aggression. And while the US isn't sidelined, it's definitely no longer the only one driving this convoy.
Speaker 1:And finally, because this week wasn't weird enough, elon Musk started a new political party. No word yet if it runs on electricity or raw chaos Tesla tanks as Musk launches the America Party. Because apparently Twitter wasn't enough, elon Musk, billionaire CEO, part-time meme lord and full-time chaos generator, has announced the creation of a brand new political party, the America Party. Because if there's one thing Wall Street loves, it's tech CEOs randomly veering into populist politics in the middle of all the other chaos in the world. The result Tesla shares fell off a cliff, dropping over 78% in extended trading. That's not a typo. That's investors collectively saying hey, elon, maybe stay in your lane or at least on the highway.
Speaker 1:The announcement blindsided markets, spooked analysts already worried about Musk's focus drift. Remember, this is a man juggling Tesla, spacex X, formerly Twitter, formerly a social media platform, now a free speech gladiator arena and now a third-party political movement. Analyst Dan Ives called the move, political overreach on steroids, adding that investor patience has a shelf life and that shelf is looking pretty empty right now. Former President Donald Trump not exactly shy about throwing his own elbows, chimed in with a this is offrails rebuke, warning that Musk's new party could siphon votes, media oxygen and maybe even donor dollars away from MAGA 2.0. So now we've got a billionaire feud brewing alongside a new party launch that already looks like a stockholder lawsuit waiting to happen.
Speaker 1:Musk's team insists this isn't about ego, which is so adorable. They claim the America Party will focus on innovation, freedom of expression and breaking on political monopolies, which is corporate speak, for we didn't think this through enough, but we printed the hats anyway. Meanwhile, tesla is getting hit from all angles EV tax credits are being rolled back, new regulations on self-driving tech are tightening and Q2 deliveries were down. Not surprising when your CEO is busy tweeting in Morse code about the First Amendment. So what do you get when a car company becomes a political party Answer confused customers, panicked shareholders and a Federal Election Commission headache. Hey, at least the Cybertruck might double as a campaign RV. Let's sum it up Musk went full political disruptor, just as Tesla needed leadership focus and instead got PR chaos, stock implosions and public spats with Trump. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to figure out whether our next EV should come with a constitution in the glove box.
Speaker 1:Ok, before I go, I've asked for feedback about 100 times now and let's just say your comments have been sparse. We've got billionaires launching rockets, ai writing poetry and half the country can't even agree on what day it is. Maybe it's time we actually started talking to each other. So here's what I want to know Wolfpack listeners. My question for all of you what's the moment that finally makes America snap in half and breaks our country? Is it political violence, a complete media blackout, civil War 2.0? Or are we already past the breaking point and nobody wants to admit it? So here's the deal. Like Biden would say 833-399-9653.
Speaker 1:That's a toll-free voicemail box. It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You won't get a human. You won't get a chat bot. Just leave your message.
Speaker 1:Say I'm Bob, feel free to use my comment, or I'm Mary. Please don't use my name. I respect that. No questions asked. Or email me at a worldgonemadpodcast at gmailcom. Yes, you have to type the whole thing. Yes, it's long. Yes, that's how Gmail works. I'm asking you this question because this show isn't just me reading the headlines. It's supposed to be a real conversation and if no one talks back, then, yeah, I really am just a guy sitting in a room talking to myself. So please, let me hear from you. Also, please don't forget to leave comments on Apple or Spotify. That helps my podcast move up in the rankings and be heard by thousands more people. This has been A World Gone Mad. I'm Jeff Allen Wolfe. I'll be back Wednesday. Until then, stay grounded, stay skeptical and if all else fails, stay hopeful, can't you see? And we need to stand up and preserve our democracy. This is a world gone mad. This is a world gone mad.
